


Futures Rewritten

by quinnntessentially



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Angst, Book Club Caused This, F/M, I think I'm clever with titles, Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Character Death, Multi, Poly Pile, ShadowBringers Spoilers Abound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28033863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quinnntessentially/pseuds/quinnntessentially
Summary: After the events of "The Best Laid Plans", the Warrior begins to have nightmares of an alternative future.
Relationships: Elidibus/Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light, Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Futures Rewritten

Sometimes, the Warrior would wake up in the middle of the night with a feeling of blood on her hands. Dreams turn into nightmares; nightmares of a timeline where the war never stopped. Many lives were lost and where she and the Scions had been summoned to the first. Where things had gone drastically different. 

A time where she killed her loved ones.

The first to die would be Hades. In this reality, much remained the same. She killed the Lightwardens one by one, revealed Vauthry as one himself, and made the journey to Amaurot’s recreation. But there too were many differences. There was never any true trust between her and him, despite his short-lived attempts to see her worth. He never recognized her and neither did she recognize him. Their souls never reunited as they had now; two star-crossed lovers meeting in sweet embrace. As such, she only ever called him by his title, their relationship impersonal. One of necessity. 

They had fought hard and he revealed his true form. Large, some would call it monstrous. She would reflect on it being a manifestation of the misery and desperation that this version of him had become burdened with after millenia without hope. It was not until she landed the final blow against him did she say his true name. Afterwards, she would fall to her knees and weep. Never truly knowing the full implications of her actions.

Even her dream self would feel an immense sense of loss as the soul bond that had been forged millennia ago was torn from her. Only afterwards would she discover her true identity as Azem, yet never become whole. In this timeline, the stone held a different purpose. Hades never found her on the Source and by the time he saw her, her aether had already been masked by the hideous primordial light. As such, he had no reason to gather the shards he could find floating amongst the lifestream and store them in the orange stone. Despite all of this, Hythlodaeus would still be the one to help her come to these realizations, even if it had been too late. 

That was only the first of whom she loved that she would murder in her dreams.

Next, the original Warrior of Light would arise once more. Elidibus, maddened at the loss of his companion Emet-Selch would arrive upon the First himself. He would take the form of Ardbert intentionally to cause her pain. He wouldn’t recognize her either, not even the slightest recognition was to be found in his eyes. He was blinded by the loss of his last true unsundered companion. 

She and her companions would scour the First attempting to fully understand his plans. It would all come to a head as she continued to defy his plans of bringing about the 8th calamity and he’d challenge her at the peak of the Crystal Tower. And of course she’d win, it wouldn’t be a nightmare if she didn’t kill another friend, lover. It wouldn’t be a nightmare without more bloodshed to her name. She watched as he fell before her. She looked down with cold eyes and in her dream she felt no emotion. 

And then, of course, the dream would end with her dear friend, G’raha, still the Exarch, completing his crystal transformation. She’d collapse before him, weeping uncontrollably. Alone. 

It is then she’d wake up, sobbing, hysterical, even screaming sometimes.

She’d look to her hands and she’d see them covered, red with blood, sticky and hot. 

Her bed companions would all react quickly to soothe her fears, those who she thought were dead would reassure her that they were fine and very much alive. Long and firm embraces, sweet words, and reminders of the truth of events would all be needed before she’d finally relax. Tired from emotional trauma, she’d collapse in one of their arms and there she’d stay, until morning broke.

The thought never left the Warrior though; just how close had she come, to experiencing the world as she envisioned in nightmares?

**Author's Note:**

> I had this dark thought like a month ago, posted it as a snip in the book club then promptly forgot about it... UNTIL TODAY.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and if you did (or even if you didn't haha), please do consider joining the discord, [Emet-Selch's Wholesomely Debauched and Enabling Book Club](https://discord.gg/enabling-debauched-xivfic). It's an incredibly friendly space where I've personally met a lot of people I consider friends. I hope to see you there! <3


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